


Fireworks

by purplebass



Category: The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Family Feels, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:27:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27174511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplebass/pseuds/purplebass
Summary: Christopher Lightwood had never thought about himself being different from his friends. Not that anybody had ever told him that in his face, but some people weren’t capable of hiding their true feelings when in the presence of his parents.
Relationships: Cecily Herondale & Christopher Lightwood, Cecily Herondale/Christopher Lightwood
Kudos: 11





	Fireworks

Christopher Lightwood had never thought about himself being different from his friends. Not that anybody had ever told him that in his face, but some people weren’t capable of hiding their true feelings when in the presence of his parents.

“Don’t you wish your son would be an ordinary shadowhunter?” someone asked his mother once, during a social event. “I mean, instead of doing that mad scientist stuff with the Consul’s husband.”

Christopher had been distracted by fireworks, and had barely caught that they were talking about him. He had never seen the fireworks, and he didn’t know what they were until his cousin Thomas had told him that mundanes used them when they celebrated something. He wasn’t truly listening to what his mother was discussing with the other woman, nor he cared. He was just ten, and very curious. His curiosity for the fireworks outside was cut short when his mother Cecily replied to the other woman.

“What do you mean with _that_?” Cecily asked. Christopher’s ears perked up and he barely turned his head to watch his mother. That was the tone she used when he or his sister Anna did something she didn’t like. In that moment, Christopher understood that Cecily was very, very, angry. But at the same time, she was trying not to lose her cool.

The woman glanced at Christopher, and their eyes met. Her expression wasn’t welcoming nor warm. Had he met her outside, he would have avoided her. His father recommended him not to follow strangers in the streets, especially the ones that give you the chills. It was a weird explanation, he thought, but in that moment, he realized that woman was doing that. He stared back at her, and then her eyes moved back on his mother as if he didn’t exist.

“Well, aren’t you afraid that your oldest male kid is going to turn like Henry Fairchild?”

Upon hearing Henry’s name, Christopher forgot about the fireworks altogether.

“I don’t understand what are you trying to say,” Cecily replied harshly, but still tried to keep her voice calm.

_This was a challenge_ , Christopher thought. He couldn’t see his mother’s expression, but he noticed her hand. She had grabbed the fabric of her dress in a fist and was holding it tightly. He didn’t know why she was doing that, and thought that she was cleaning her hand because it was sweaty. Something he often did when he was in the lab with Henry and got his clothes all dirty with substances of different colors, which made his mother frown.

“The whole Clave knows that he is out of his mind, come on. He’ll corrupt your boy’s mind and he will also want to create those… things, _whatever_ he does.”

Christopher didn’t like the tone the woman had used, but he hadn’t said anything. But he heard Cecily’s fingers snap. She was still holding a piece of her dress, and her knuckles had turned white.

“So, _you_ think I should keep my son out of his reach, right?”

The woman smiled. “Exactly! You can’t let Fairchild influence your son. He’s a Lightwood, and he shouldn’t bother with those people.”

“Oh,” Cecily said, changing her voice again. “I see.”

“I’m glad you do. We don’t need more people _like_ him.”

_No, that’s not true!_ Christopher thought, but didn’t to say anything. His parents taught him not to interrupt an adult while they talked, and he usually obeyed, despite wanting to interject. _We need more people like Henry,_ he wanted to say. _But I am like him_ , he had added. _Is it enough?_

The question weighed in Christopher’s mind for a few seconds before he could answer.

_Yes, it is definitely enough. I am definitely enough_ , he declared.

“Do you know what type of people we also don’t need?” his mother continued, as if she was talking about the weather. “Close-minded people _like_ you.”

Shock colored the woman’s face. She looked like his aunt Sophie when he and Thomas burned the curtains of the drawing room. But it wasn’t the same kind of shock. His aunt had been astonished at the sight of the fire eating the velvet cloths, but then her face had molded into resignation. She had sighed and had used her stele to draw a rune to extinguish the fire. This woman’s shock turned quickly into anger. She had been insulted and was clearly offended, and not even the chocolate chip cookies Bridget prepared would make her smile.

“How dare you!” she almost shouted, making some heads turn.

“No,” Cecily said with a firm tone. “How dare _you_.”

The woman looked at Christopher again. She was really mad. He didn’t understand the nuances of the conversation, but he realized that she was enraged because of what his mother had just said. He thought that she would do something, or say more, but then she just glared at his mother and left.

“Some people are rude,” Cecily commented to the empty space in front of them. Then she eyed him, and she smiled. “I love you, Christopher,” she simply said, but it was enough to make him grin affectionately at her. “You know that you can do whatever you like, right? That you can go to the lab whenever you want, as long as Henry approves.”

He nodded. “I love you too, mom,” he added, then his attention drifted to the window again, where there was a new display of fireworks lightning the night London sky.


End file.
